The male landlord’s tone softened again. “Of course, if you insist on staying, I won’t throw you out. I’m a law-abiding citizen. But if the wires and pipes in the house accidentally break and can’t be fixed, well, that’s not against the law.”
He knew Jiang Wu lived alone and had just come of age, so he wielded the threat of cutting off the water and power with practiced ease. “Tonight, the water and power in your room will definitely break.”
Jiang Wu nodded indifferently. “Let them break.” The landlord’s face twitched. Jiang Wu continued, “I can survive one night.”
Sure enough, the landlord’s face darkened completely.
Jiang Wu was now certain his guess was right. Someone wanted him sleeping on the streets tonight, but it wasn’t the landlord.
It wasn’t unusual for the landlord to want him to move out, but the insistence that he be homeless tonight was too illogical. They’d never had any friction before.
If not the landlord, then someone else.
Someone with money who hated him—
He had a good idea who it was.
Jiang Wu rubbed his face, the ice-cold skin barely warming up. He shifted tactics. “I can leave tonight, but I have conditions.”
The landlord asked eagerly, “What?”
“Double the penalty fee.” Jiang Wu held up two fingers.
The contract he’d signed with the landlord to secure a place to live wasn’t formal; there was no penalty clause.
The male landlord agreed instantly. “Deal! Now get lo—” He corrected himself under Jiang Wu’s gaze. “Leave immediately!”
Most of Jiang Wu’s luggage consisted of books. The landlady, drenched in sweat, carried the last packed bag out of the rental. Jiang Wu said, “One more condition: I’ll pick up my luggage tomorrow.”
The male landlord grew anxious again. “No way! None of your stuff can stay in this room for even one more second…”
Jiang Wu said flatly, “Simple. Move it to your place, and it won’t be in this room anymore.”
He pulled out his phone and opened his payment QR code, his smile brilliant. “Unless you want me to change my mind? My double penalty fee is a small matter, but your new tenant—”
The landlord was stunned. “You know…” He was completely cornered. With a snort, he pulled out his phone.
Watching Jiang Wu descend the stairs until his back disappeared, the landlord hummed a tune and went back into the apartment, looking around.
It was slightly better maintained than when he’d rented it out, but still shabby and cramped. Yet, someone had paid ten times the price to rent it for tonight.
The money had already been sent. They couldn’t be a con artist or an idiot. Maybe this house was on a lucky site? Jiang Wu had only gotten into a top domestic university after moving in here!
Thinking this, the male landlord climbed up to the attic, flopped down onto the bed the landlady had just tidied, and stretched out.
“Honey, what are you doing? Let’s go home!” the landlady shouted from downstairs.
The landlord lay flat, gazing at the skylight overhead. Listening to the sound of falling snow was quite romantic. He crossed his legs, lit a cigarette, and said cheerfully, “You go ahead. I’ll stay here for a bit.”
Basking in the good luck! Let more moneyed fools come and rent his place for ten times the price!
Downstairs, Jiang Wu stepped out of the stairwell. The cold wind immediately snuck down his collar; the wind and snow had intensified.
He looked up at the sky. Amidst the thick, swirling snowflakes, a faint red glow seeped through the high altitude.
The red light stained the snowflakes, looking like the color of large-denomination bills—exceptionally beautiful.
Jiang Wu’s balance had suddenly become quite full, and his mood was just as beautiful. Being hated by Tan Yiqian wasn’t necessarily a bad thing!
Nearby were only village houses and fields, nowhere to rest temporarily. Jiang Wu hung his mask on his wrist, pulled out his phone, and tried to find a ride-share. Surprisingly, a car accepted the request.
Two beams of orange light approached from afar. A long black sedan slowly stopped in front of Jiang Wu.
“…” Jiang Wu silently stepped back, glancing at the license plate number.
Xian S1111.
It matched the plate on the ride-share app.
Since it was correct, Jiang Wu got in. It was his first time in an expensive, extended car, so he decisively went for the passenger seat.
The window rolled down first. In the car lights was a smiling face, an old man with graying hair beaming at him. “Please, take the back seat.”
The rear cabin was unlit. Dim light filtered through the partition glass from the front, casting a few small, overlapping circles of light onto the soft carpet.
On the seat at the rear of the car, an indistinct figure was exceptionally blurry, like viewing flowers through fog, lost in a smoky sea.
There was another person inside the car.
~
The heater was on full blast inside the car; it was a different world from outside the window. Jiang Wu stepped onto the cloud-soft carpet, hesitating whether to proceed.
He just wanted to go to the nearest convenience store, soak a steaming cup of instant noodles, and add a sausage. His estimated ride-share fare, after discounts, was 4 yuan and 1 mao.
Yet the carpet beneath his feet probably cost more to clean once than his entire year’s living expenses.
The mask hanging on Jiang Wu’s wrist swayed slightly. While he was still hesitating, the car door closed automatically.
The car started moving. Jiang Wu steadied his mask and sat down on the nearest side seat. With a slight turn of his head, he could glimpse the figure in the rear diagonal.
Occasional light from roadside lamps flashed past, and a curve of cold, sharp white light streaked by.
It seemed to be the outline of that person.
Jiang Wu blinked his eyelashes. His vision seemed to have deteriorated recently; he couldn’t see people clearly. Suddenly, his left pocket shook violently. His jacket had a large, zipperless pocket. Surprised, he looked down, gently pulled the pocket open, and suddenly his vision cleared. In the darkness, he saw Banfen!
Banfen had crawled in there at some point and was curled up at the very bottom, terrified. Its eight legs were wrapped tightly around itself, its head buried in its front claws, trembling uncontrollably.
Jiang Wu’s eyes darted to the rear side. His index finger secretly slipped into the pocket to soothe Banfen, his other hand pressing the pocket flap to prevent it from crawling out.
Almost instantly, he felt Banfen’s legs shift and wrap tightly around his finger. Banfen was hugging his index finger.
Thump thump thump—
He could even perceive Banfen’s frantic heartbeat.
Had the landlord entering the room scared it, or was it because this was a strange environment?
As Jiang Wu pondered, the old man’s voice came from the front. “We’re here.”
Outside the car window was a small shop. The sign across the storefront read—24-Hour Convenience Store.
“Thank you.” Jiang Wu hurriedly got out. The moment he shut the door, he glanced toward that person again.
More light from outside spilled in. A pair of shiny, clean black leather shoes reflected the light.
And—
That person’s profile, in the shadows.
The jawline was sharp, the nose bridge straight and defined, the Adam’s apple hard and sharp enough to easily feel rough against the hand.
An adult male.
Jiang Wu closed the car door. The car drove away. His phone buzzed with a push notification for the ride-share charge—
Somehow, a 4-yuan ride coupon had appeared, deducting only 1 mao.
Jiang Wu gently pulled open his pocket. Banfen was still trembling, heart racing, but it had released his index finger and was huddled in the corner.
Jiang Wu chuckled softly. “Little scaredy-cat.”
Whether it was an illusion or not, Jiang Wu felt Banfen glare at him with deep grievance.
Jiang Wu touched the top of Banfen’s head with his fingertip and quickly entered the convenience store.
He added an extra sausage, a small packet of pickled vegetables, and a bottle of water—exactly four yuan.
Holding the steaming cup of noodles, he found a small table by the window, set down his mask, and stared eagerly at the lid.
Eating a tub of pork bone broth instant noodles with two sausages on a heavy snow day was an incredibly happy thing!
Jiang Wu liked his instant noodles soaked for exactly three minutes. The moment the time was up, he lifted the lid, tore open the pickled vegetable packet, and began to devour his meal.
“It’s now 1:21 AM. Welcome to ‘Do You Believe?’.”
The clerk was watching a program at the cash register, the volume turned down low, but it still clearly drifted into Jiang Wu’s ears.
“Tonight, we’ve invited five guests from different fields. The topic is—Do you believe in ghosts and gods?”
“Guest number one, Ms. Liu. You work at a funeral home. Do you ever encounter paranormal events in your daily work?”
“No.”
“Haha, that’s a firm answer! So do you think ghosts and gods exist?”
“I don’t believe. After cremation, a person is just a pile of ashes. There’s no vessel left.”
“That’s a solid point! Next is guest number two, Mr. Su—”
“Please, call me Daoist Master.”
“Alright, Daoist Master Su. What is your opinion?”
“One could say they exist, or they don’t. I can only say I hope they do. My Daoist temple is nearly bankrupt; we need some incense offerings.”
“…”
Next were guests three and four, whose answers were mostly similar, until guest five.
“I believe.” The girl’s voice was crisp. “Gods and ghosts are evolved from humans. Since humans still exist, wouldn’t it be scientific for gods and ghosts to also exist?”
Just then, another customer entered the store. The clerk hit pause.
The voices vanished.
Jiang Wu finished his noodles. He put down the plastic fork, twisted open the water bottle cap, tilted his head back, and poured water into his mouth from a distance. After drinking half, he put the bottle down, capped it, pulled out the new books from his coat, took one out, and began to read quietly.
Just before dawn, Jiang Wu slumped over the table and dozed for a while, until the wind chime hanging on the convenience store door woke him.
He looked up. Outside the glass, the heavy snow had stopped. The sky was faintly bright. The world was wrapped in silver-white. Several sanitation workers were spreading snow melting agent on the road. A heavily bundled high school student carrying a large backpack, drinking porridge, hurried past.
A little later, a mother walked by, holding her child’s hand. They walked very slowly. The little girl was talking cheerfully, and the mother’s eyebrows curved in a smile as she listened.
Jiang Wu rested his chin on the table, his gaze following the mother and daughter until they passed. Only then did he prop himself up, first checking on Banfen in his pocket. Banfen was still huddled in a ball, sleeping quietly.
Jiang Wu rubbed his sore eyes, grabbed the remaining mineral water, bought a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a towel. He borrowed the restroom from the clerk to wash up quickly, then came back out and bought two steamed buns, a bowl of porridge, and a boiled corn cob.
After finishing all his breakfast, Jiang Wu walked back to Kongming Village.
He had no morning classes, and it was too early—the landlord’s family might still be sleeping.
As he neared Kongming Village, the sky was fully bright. Faint cries and wails reached his ears.
Jiang Wu stopped and looked toward the source of the sound.
It was his rental place.
“Oh my, he went for regular checkups every year. He was very healthy.”
“I know, right! He was just over 40, still young. I never heard he had any illness.”
“What sudden illness did he get? I heard he died before even getting to the hospital.”
“It wasn’t an illness. When his wife called for help, I was the first one there. I was nearly scared to death. The bed was covered in blood, and his head was completely gone!”
“What! He was murdered?”
“Oh dear, keep your voice down. They said it’s a serious incident and we can’t spread it around! Wait for the investigation report.”
…
Outside the police tape, Jiang Wu stared at the stairwell entrance. The landlady was crying so hard she couldn’t stand, supported by others. Shortly after, people carried a stretcher shrouded in a white cloth downstairs. Several bloodstains on the cloth couldn’t be covered, and where the head should be was a deep indentation.
“Woo, husband!” The landlady shrieked, lunging at the stretcher, wailing uncontrollably.
Jiang Wu froze in place.
The deceased was the male landlord, but clearly—
His extremely light brown pupils constricted sharply.
Last night, he hadn’t seen the male landlord’s Death Notice!
